


Madame Mort

by JED1



Series: Miraculous Tales [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action, Cliffhangers galore to come, Drama, Gen, Identity Reveal, That's what you get for being the personification of bad luck, UA, Universe Alterations, Wee bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-11 02:45:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7873033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JED1/pseuds/JED1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First part of the plan, loose Madame Mort.  Second part, hide Chat Noir somewhere safe- a soft beep from his ring added a bit more length to her stride.  Addendum.  Hide Chat somewhere safe where no one would find out his secret identity.  Third part, go beat the ever loving tar out of Madame Mort.  Fourth Part, use the Lucky Charm wisely to get the glove off and destroy it without ending up unconscious or worse.  Fifth part, Purify the Akuma and use the Miraculous Ladybug to undo everything and heal everyone. Sixth and final part, find Chat once he was transformed again and shake him until the fact that he wasn’t allowed to do this to her ever again got through his thick skull.  The Sixth part might also include a lot of shouting or screaming, she wasn’t sure yet.  But the shaking part was definite.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a few terms/concepts that are canon in my fanfic series that are NOT canon in the main show... such as akumas having a different appearance after a Champion accepts Papillon's deal, the use of 'Miraculous Restoration' instead of Miraculous Ladybug, the kwamis have a slightly different look from canon, and the concept of a 'glamour' that helps protect the identities of Miraculous Chosen.  
> To see what these important 'AU from canon, but canon in this series' facts are please click [here.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8189071/chapters/25892577)  
> To see what my Statute of Limitations on Spoiler Warnings ( _the amount of time that I will post Spoiler Warnings at the start of chapters/in comments_ ) as well as seeing a list of Fandom Terminology that I use in my tags, notes and comments, please click [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8189071/chapters/19397227).  
> ~~~~~~  
> 

In hindsight, rushing to get to the location of the latest Akumatized victim instead of finding Ladybug and working together from the get-go was at least partially to blame for the mess he was in. Chat Noir could admit that, to himself if not aloud… granted, there was also the fact that the latest enemy was apparently out to get HIM personally and… well-

Chat Noir ducked into a roll as Madame Mort leapt at him, her gloved left hand coming within inches of his shoulder. Coming out of the roll, Chat broke into a run, glancing over his shoulder to both gauge how close Madame Mort was AND to ensure she was following him. 

With a yelp, Chat Noir leapt to the side, then scrambled up the side of the nearest building, Madame Mort’s hands almost closing on his belt-tail. Who had decided that a built in LEASH was a good fashion design?! It was Plagg wasn’t it? He would bet the built-in leash was Plagg’s idea. 

Safe at the top of the building, he squinted at the setting sun. His vision was just as good in the dark as it was in the light; that might give him the edge he needed. He turned and looked down at the fuming steampunk Plague Doctor that was Madame Mort. Good, she wasn’t heading off after anyone else. He glanced down the street. One touch from Madame Mort’s gloved left hand and Natalie and the Gorilla had both just… dropped. Adrien had hidden behind the car until Madame Mort had walked past. Once he’d gotten them off the sidewalk and where he hoped they’d be safe he’d transformed and rushed after Madame Mort. It had been easy to find her… he’d just followed the trail of weak or unconscious victims. 

“Sooooo, have I actually done something recently or are you just not a cat person?” 

“You are bad luck, destruction and DEATH!” 

“…Well, the first and second one are true, but-“ 

“I will save Paris from you!” 

“…No, no, that’s not how this works. You see, *I’M* the superhero and YOU’RE the supervillain so-“ 

Madame Mort jumped… and then kept rising. Chat Noir’s eyes widened and he took to his heels again. “You can fly!? Why can so many of you fly? It’s totally unfair!” 

Okay, so he was being chased over the rooftops of Paris by a supervillain who apparently had a ‘glove-of-drain-to-near-death-all’… he really hoped it wasn’t ‘drain-to-actual-death-all’. Some of the people he’d passed while trying to initially catch up with her had been- No. Nope. Don’t think about it. Even if it was a glove-of-kill-all the Miraculous Restoration would fix it. It had to. Chat Noir used his baton to clear a wide street then turned to look back. 

…He had lost Madame Mort. 

“Oh no, no, no, NO!” 

Back over the street and the rooftops once more. Where was she? Why had she stopped following him? She had seemed REALLY pissed off at him ( _he was pretty good at getting the villains attention -and anger- focused on him actually… not the best thing to be proud of but hey, claim the skills you have_ ) so where had she gone? 

Hearing screams up ahead, Chat used his baton to pole-vault over the rest of the building and down onto the street. His eyes widened as he saw Marinette in the street, running TOWARDS Madame Mort, who had just grabbed and lifted a man up with her right hand. What was Marinette doing HERE?! 

“HEY!” he slammed his baton against the car beside him, making a satisfyingly loud noise. “I sure am **feline** that for someone who claims to want to save Paris you are doing a **purr** fectly horrible job of saving people!” 

Madame Mort turned slowly to stare at Chat Noir, letting go of the man she had just hefted up in her ungloved hand. The man scrambled away and seemed none the worse for wear, so at least he only had to worry about her LEFT hand. Chat smiled in relief when the guy grabbed Marinette as he ran, pulling her with him. Good. His friend was safe. He spun his staff and smirked, winking at Madame Mort. 

Alright. Step one: find the villain, was a success. 

Now if only he had a step two. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Most of the time, Marinette loved how the normal people of Paris were sometimes heroes in their own right. 

But right now, running through the streets of Paris at sunset with some guy she didn’t know all but carrying her further and further away from the current Akumatized villain and her partner, she didn’t love it all that much. If Marinette were just Marinette she would be relieved, but she WASN’T just Marinette, she was Ladybug and she needed to get back there, fast. The two of them ran around the corner and the man whispered a quiet word of thanks as they saw the Police Station up ahead, two cops standing at the door, waving everyone in while keeping a wary eye out for whatever supervillain the Akuma had conjured up this time. Ever since the attacks had started coming with near regularity, Mayor Bourgeois had enacted a set of laws stating that public locations like the Police Station and even his hotel had to let people in during attacks. Marinette actually liked the new laws. The number of people caught out in the open during an Akuma attack had dropped massively once they had gone through. 

Once they were inside, the guy let go of her wrist and Marinette smiled at him. “Thank you, Monsieur …” 

The man patted Marinette’s shoulder. “Dubois. Sorry about just grabbing you kid, but-“ 

“No, no, it’s fine! Thank you for doing it, Monsieur Dubois, I- got turned around.” 

Marinette thought fast, then pulled out her phone. “I’m going up to call my Maman and Papa and everyone to make sure they’re okay! Thank you again!” 

She scrambled to the back of the Police station, hoping to find a way to slip out unnoticed. 

“It sure was nice of that man to try and help you,” Tikki said, poking her head out of Marinette’s purse. 

Marinette glanced down at Tikki as she turned away from the back door, seeing that there were police stationed there as well to usher people in, and went to see if there was a side-door. “Yeah it was… even if it does mean it’ll take longer to stop the Akumatized victim.” 

“Alright. Then let’s go save the day as fast as we can!” 

“I like that idea. …Now, help me find a way to sneak out…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: 1/6/17  
> I am a patreon of the AMAZING [Dire](https://portentous-offerings.tumblr.com/) on [Dire's Patreon Page](https://www.patreon.com/Dire_Hard/), and part of said patreon perks is a monthly request for a character drawing... So for January, I asked if Dire could draw Madame Mort for me.  
> LOOK AT THE AWESOMENESS!!!!! LOOOOOOK! ^_^  
>   
> 


	2. Chapter 2

Okay. So. What had he learned so far?

Well, he would be willing to bet anything that the Akuma was in Madame Mort’s glove. She seemed to be getting power from the people she drained and she ‘burned through’ the charge fast… the longer he could get her to go without draining someone the better his odds were. She wasn’t as strong, she wasn’t as fast, it seemed like she couldn’t fly after a bit, and all that good stuff. He’d also prodded some information about who she really was out of her. …Mostly by taunting, but it had worked, so there. She was a doctor and things had apparently been bad at the hospital this month and a lot of it had been blamed on ‘bad luck’… which explained why she was fixating on him, kinda sorta. 

Also, while it looked like she had to get a solid connection with someone for at least a few seconds to knock them out, even her fingers brushing over someone was enough to make them weak… and while he seemed to be slightly resistant ( _the normal people she’d brushed even once had been on their knees at best_ )… it was definitely a cumulative effect, and even with only getting a few near misses, he was EXHAUSTED…. 

Chat Noir charged and ducked, leaning back and sliding under Madame Mort’s left hand on his knees, knocking her feet out from under her with his baton as he went past. The second he was past her, he ran to Madame Mort’s latest victims and scooped the woman up with one arm, then tried to smile for the little boy. “Hold on to my waist as tight as you can!” To the kid’s credit, he grabbed a hold of Chat Noir’s waist with a lot more strength than expected. Chat Noir set his baton against the ground, then extended it… and in a moment they were on the balcony of the house across the street. He set the woman down and patted the kid’s head. “You keep yourself and your mom out of sight, okay?” 

“You don’t get away from me that easily, Ch-“ 

The baton extended into Madame Mort’s stomach and a second later she smashed into the wall of the building across the street. 

Next point of note, while she COULD fly, she was actually kinda slow. …or at least, she was much slower than Chat Noir’s usual top running speed. She was also VERY single minded. 

Snarling, Chat leapt down to the street and got into a fighting stance as Madame Mort got to her feet. All of this was pretty useful, yeah… but if his guess about where the Akuma was ended up being right he had NO CLUE how they were going to destroy it to drive the Akuma out. Destroying it meant touching it, and touching it even through the fabric of a MAGIC SUIT meant your energy and life force would be drained and even if it didn’t kill you you’d be unconscious before you could destroy the glove or even take it off her hand, and- 

There was a glove-of-death less than a centimeter from his face and closing and WHEN HAD SHE GOTTEN THAT CLOSE?! 

Chat Noir lost track of time as he played an increasingly desperate game of keep away. He couldn’t run to try and lead her away, because she would only follow him until she saw someone else to drain, and he was slowing down, losing focus… and that meant Madame Mort kept getting him more and more and more and- 

Chat managed to score a solid hit with his staff, sending Madame Mort flying down the street to land in a crumpled heap. He looked around to see if the civilians had all gotten away… and his vision swam. Staggering into a wall he braced himself against it, digging in with his claws when he almost slid to the ground. Blinking to try and clear his vision, he groaned as he saw the purple and black blur that was Madame Mort getting to her feet. Just a minute or two; that was all he needed. Just a few minutes to sit down until the world stopped spinning and his legs stopped wobbling… or at least a chance to catch his breath. Chat grit his teeth and pushed off the wall. He could do this. Ignore the tunneling vision and the high pitched whirling sound and just… get to his feet and do his job. 

Wait, whirling sound? 

A small red blur in front of him and a shout of “CHAT NOIR! Grab hold!” and he was moving without conscious thought, clipping his baton into place on his back with one hand and grabbing at the red blur in front of him with the other. He was yanked off his feet, up into the air and then sideways to land in a heap next to his Lady. 

He blinked until his vision cleared as she smiled at him, offering him a hand up. “Sorry I’m late.” 

Chat smiled back and reached up to take her hand, getting to his feet with Ladybug’s help …but back on the street, he could see Madame Mort taking to the air again and heading their way. 

“Don’t let her touch you. Not even for a second, not even a brush,” Chat Noir gasped out, eyes locked onto the quickly approaching supervillain. His knees buckled, but Ladybug had him, one arm wrapping around his waist, using her yoyo to pull both of them to a building a few blocks away. 

Ohhhhhhh dizzy. 

Ladybug backed away from Chat Noir to give herself space as she snapped her yoyo out and lassoed Madame Mort. Bracing, she spun in a circle, whipping Madame Mort around before sending her flying to land in the Seine. 

“Are you alright?” Ladybug asked, keeping one eye on the river for when and where the Akumatized victim should surface. 

Chat Noir nodded, walking over to her slowly and bracing one hand on her shoulder when he stumbled. “I think the Akuma is in Madame Mort’s glove, the one on her left hand, and she’s- I dunno, recharging? -from the people she’s draining, because she slows down if she hasn’t drained anyone in a while and after a few minutes she can’t fly.” 

Ladybug frowned. Not a single joke or pun, and not even a bit of flirting. “She’s drained you.” 

“Only a few brushes,” Chat muttered, closing his eyes and leaning some of his weight against her, resting his forehead on her shoulder. Just for a second. He was so tired. “She’s a doctor and I think she kinda blames me for some stuff that’s gone wrong for her or something, so she’s kinda fixated on me. It’s made making her chase and fight me easy at least.” 

“Blames YOU?” 

Chat Noir just shrugged. 

Out on the Seine, Madame Mort was rising from the water. Ladybug wrapped an arm around Chat Noir’s waist again and started to spin her yoyo, looking around to figure out which building she wanted to head towards next. “Come on, Kitty, we need to lose her for a little bit.” 

“No. Tried that,” Chat said, opening his eyes. “She just starts draining people again.” 

“Okay. We don’t lose her, but we can still lead her to some place where we can fight her… we just need a mostly clear space. And I know just where.” Lassoing a chimney one block away, she tightened her grip on Chat Noir’s waist and before he could react she gave her yoyo a tug and they were off. 

Several minutes later and the duo were standing on the Champs-Élysées, the Obelisk to their back as they watched Madame Mort fly down the Avenue at them, behind and all around them, people were running to clear the road, getting out of sight and behind closed doors as fast as they could. 

“Alright. We’re here, my Lady but… what exactly is our plan?” 

Ladybug flashed Chat Noir a smile. “You said she ran out of power fast, right?” 

“Yeah?” 

“So we’re going to keep her here and busy until she burns through the energy she’s stolen, then we’ll pin her in place to the Obelisk with a car or your baton or tie her with a hose or some rope or police tape or whatever and I’ll get a Lucky Charm so I can get her glove off safely! It’ll be quick and easy!” 

Chat Noir nodded, splitting his baton into two and settling his stance as Madame Mort rushed at them. “Here we go.”


	3. Chapter 3

This was not quick, this was NOT easy and Chat Noir hadn’t been kidding when he kept stressing how vital it was to not let Madame Mort touch anyone for even for a second. After draining just one guy, Madame Mort was fast and strong enough that she managed to snag the yoyo that Ladybug had intended to bind the Akumatized villain’s hands and a moment later Ladybug was flying one way… and her yoyo was flying the other. 

Landing in a heap against a bus, Ladybug went to get up, then yelped as she saw Madame Mort flying at her, eyes grim behind the creepy purple plague doctor mask, left hand extended- 

And suddenly there was over 250 metric tons of shattered stone smashing down, burying Madame Mort and missing Ladybug by centimeters as she plastered her back against the bus with a not-so-small scream. 

A moment or two for her heart to slow down and Ladybug slowly looked up, following the trail of yellow granite and gold to find her partner standing with his right hand pressed against the base of the Luxor Obelisk. Or what HAD been the Luxor Obelisk. 

“Not what I had in mind for using the Obelisk to stop her, but it works!” she chirped. 

Chat offered a tired smile and thumbs up, sliding to sit against what remained of the Obelisk base. Smiling back, Ladybug began to pick her way around the rubble as she went to get her yoyo. Once she had it, they just had to find Madame Mort, use her Lucky Charm to get the glove off and that would be th- 

Stone exploded outwards as Madame Mort burst out from under the collapsed Obelisk. 

Ladybug twisted and spun to avoid being hit by flying debris, running for her yoyo, only to stumble to a halt, spinning and running for the base of the Obelisk as fast as she could as she realized that Madame Mort wasn’t heading after HER- 

_“…She’s kinda fixated on me…”_

“CHAT NOIR! RUN!!” 

Madame Mort grabbed Chat Noir by his wrists before he could even get to his feet and began to climb into the air, in a heartbeat higher than Ladybug could jump. Eyes wide, Ladybug turned and scrambled towards where she’d last seen her yoyo. Up above, Chat Noir was struggling, clawing with his hands, despite Madame Mort's tight grip on both and kicking, trying to get loose, but his struggles slowed, then stopped as he finally passed out, eyes sliding shut as he hung limp in her grasp. 

The mark of Papillon flashed to life in front of Madame Mort’s face and her eyes widened, then narrowed. “Yes, Papillon,” she growled and let go of his left wrist, and reached up with her right hand, grabbing the unconscious Chat Noir’s ring. 

Madame Mort hadn’t slid the ring all of a millimeter before Ladybug’s yoyo suddenly smashed into her right hand, knocking it aside. The supervillain glared down at Ladybug, who just returned the glare, already spinning her yoyo as she prepared for another attack. “Give me Chat Noir!” 

“…why would you want him?” she hefted the limp superhero and gave him a small shake. “He’s nothing but bad luck and destruction! You, the world, everyone will be better off without it!” 

Ladybug scowled and threw her yoyo, lassoing Chat’s torso. “He may be bad luck, but he’s MY bad luck!” Widening her stance, she pulled as hard as she could, ripping Chat Noir out of Madame Mort’s grasp and into her arms, his sudden weight knocking her off her feet. 

A second to look around, a throw and a tug of her yoyo later and she was on top of l’Elysee Palace, Chat Noir slumped against her. She couldn’t stay and fight, not with Chat Noir unconscious, a villain that was bound and determined to kill him and- Chat’s ring beeped and she lifted his right hand to look at it- only minutes left before Chat Noir de-transformed. Ladybug ducked to one knee, pulling Chat over her shoulders in a fireman-carry. “Don’t worry,” she promised her partner softly. “As soon as I can get you someplace safe, I’ll deal with Madame Mort, and I promise I’ll be extra careful while you’re not there to protect me.” 

“DIE!” 

Ladybug looked up and yelped as she saw that Madame Mort was rushing straight at them. Throwing her yoyo she hooked railing of the nearest building and swung over. Landing with Chat Noir’s weight over her shoulders was awkward, but Ladybug tightened her grip on his wrist and started running over the rooftops of Paris as fast as she could, a purple and black steampunk Plague Doctor in tight pursuit. 

Ladybug headed south-east, keeping close to the Seine. Throwing people in the river had been a tried and true strategy for almost a year now after all. 

She glanced over her shoulder, she cursed when she realized that while she’d gotten a bit of distance between herself and Madame Mort, the Akumatized supervillain could still obviously see her and was still giving chase. Catching a gargoyle several blocks away, she increased the gap and took the chance to pause and check on Chat Noir. He seemed to be… almost coming around now. At the very least his eyes drifted part way open when she shook him. She was so used to her partner… moving, and chatting and punning and just… not being so eerily still and silent. Shifting Chat back onto her shoulders again, and offering a quick ‘sorry’ when he mumbled something that she couldn’t make heads or tails of, Ladybug started running again. 

First part of the plan, loose Madame Mort. Second part, hide Chat Noir somewhere safe- a soft beep from his ring added a bit more length to her stride. Addendum. Hide Chat somewhere safe where no one would find out his secret identity. Third part, go beat the ever loving tar out of Madame Mort. Fourth Part, use the Lucky Charm wisely to get the glove off and destroy it without ending up unconscious or worse. Fifth part, Purify the Akuma and use the Miraculous Restoration to undo everything and heal everyone. Sixth and final part, find Chat once he was transformed again and shake him until the fact that he wasn’t allowed to do this to her ever again got through his thick skull. The Sixth part might also include a lot of shouting or screaming, she wasn’t sure yet. But the shaking part was definite. 

Ladybug glanced ahead, trying to figure out where in Paris she was. She was almost to Notre Dame now, which meant she was almost home. 

…Hiding Chat Noir in her room would actually work really, really well. Her parents should still be at Le Grand Paris, since her Mom and Dad had gone to have a romantic dinner together tonight, as they did every now and then. All she had to do was tell Chat Noir that Marinette had seen Ladybug running past and offered a place to hide and then… well, she’d come up for a reason for not being in the room or home after. But Chat had worked with Marinette before, he knew her and she ( _mostly_ ) knew him, as far as he knew. 

Now she just had to loose Madame Mort and get there. 

Ladybug sped up. One and a half kilometers to go. She could make i- her foot caught on part of a rain gutter and she went over with a yelp, barely managing to catch herself and Chat Noir before they both ended up on the street. …Times like this she really wished she had Chat’s night vision, streetlamps didn’t do any good up on the rooftops. Chat Noir offered a faint groan as she dragged him next to her and he shifted a bit before going limp again. Was that a good thing? …It should be a good thing, right? 

Right. 

Standing up, she saw Madame Mort was only a building or two away. Pulling Chat Noir into a fireman’s carry yet again, she took off at a run, trying to get as much speed as she possibly could. 

She actually got within sight of home before Madame Mort caught up to them. 

Ducking into the park, hiding beneath the trees in the thickest bush she could find, Ladybug watched Madame Mort slowly fly ever closer, searching. Pressing her back against the tree trunk, she pulled Chat Noir closer, trying to keep as much of her bright red costume tucked out of sight behind Chat Noir’s black as she could. Chat was slumped on his knees, leaning against her with his head resting on her shoulder, she could just see his eyes as they slid open and she offered him a quick smile, not certain if he really knew what was happening. “Shhh, Kitty. We’ll be safe soon.” She glanced up to the left. Her house was RIGHT. THERE. 

Madame Mort landed beside the park fountain, her gaze slowly sweeping the park. Ladybug held her breath, tucking herself and Chat Noir as deep into the shadows as she could, one arm wrapping around Chat Noir’s head to tuck it down closer to her shoulder, which got a very faint noise of confusion from her partner. The red of her costume was noticeable, yes, but probably not as noticeable in the deep shadows as Chat’s bright blond hair. 

Madame Mort was looking, and now stalking, in their direction. Biting her lip, Ladybug slid her yoyo off her waist and into her hand, slowly shifting from her knees to her toes. She could do this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edit: 11/29/17  
> I am a patreon of the FANTASTIC[Sorakachan (Sinfulpapillon)](http://sinfulpapillon.tumblr.com/post/158767673326/ive-found-myself-with-more-costs-than-i-can-keep) on [Sorakachan's Patreon Page](https://www.patreon.com/sorakachanart), and also did a series of commissions, one of which was Madame Mort, sitting on the shattered base of the Obelisk.  
> IT IS SO AMAZING!! LOOK AT THIS!!! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK! ^_^  
>   
> 


	4. Chapter 4

Madame Mort was halfway to the bushes, and Ladybug was coiled and ready to attack, already starting to shift Chat Noir off to the side, when a very familiar voice suddenly split the night.

“Oh WOW!! This is the BEST FOOTAGE!” 

Madame Mort jumped at the sudden shouting, looking around wildly for the source… which meant that she missed the moment of Ladybug flailing and then quickly ducking back down to her knees again to hide. That was ALYA!! Where was- 

“I wonder why Ladybug and Chat Noir are going to the Eiffel tower?! Stay tuned to the Ladyblog, everybody! I’ll keep you up to date on Paris’ favorite heroic duo with my liiiiivestream!!” 

Wait, she and Chat were whatta what now? 

Madame Mort climbed higher into the sky and then raced off towards the Eiffel Tower, and Ladybug couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief as she poked her head up out of the bushes, looking around wildly as she tried to figure out where Alya was. 

“Ladybug,” came a much quieter call. Ladybug looked up and found herself staring in shock. Alya was half hanging out of the open window of Marinette’s own room, waving frantically at her. “Quick! Come up here and hide before she comes back!” 

This did make the plan of ‘hide Chat someplace safe where he could de-transform in secret’ a bit harder but… “Move away from the window!” she whisper-shouted, waving a hand to show Alya what she meant. Alya nodded and moved off to the side. Ladybug threw her yoyo and managed to lasso the stairs leading up to her bed-loft. Half a minute later and she was tumbling to sit on the floor of her own room, Chat Noir slumped in her arms while Alya closed the window and pulled the curtains closed the moment they were in. 

“What are you DOING here?” Ladybug couldn’t help but demand, even as she looked around her room, trying to figure out where in the world she could put Chat. 

“I was at Nin… uh. School. I was at my school working on my term paper when the Akuma attack started. I came here to check on Marinette on my way to film the latest attack and-“ Alya broke off sharply, staring at her. “Wait, how do YOU know Marinette?” 

Ladybug managed a smile. “We worked with her to stop the Evillustrator, and I thought she might… help out again? Heh?” 

Alya blinked, then frowned. “But Marinette only mentioned working with Chat Noir.” A soft groan from the cat in question distracted Alya from that line of questioning faster than anything Ladybug could have come up with. “…What happened to him?” 

Ladybug glanced down at her partner. “Madame Mort happened.” Speaking of which… 

While Alya peeked through a crack in the curtains to try and keep an eye out for Madame Mort, Ladybug got Chat over to her chaise and laid him down on his side as gently as she could. She glanced at his ring. Only one toe pad left. She ducked on her knees to be level with Chat as she gave him a shake. “Chat Noir? …Come on, Kitty, time to wake up.” 

Chat Noir’s eyes drifted open after a bit of prompting, but he was still ragdoll limp and otherwise unresponsive on the chaise. Alya suddenly knelt next to her and reached over, pressing her fingers against Chat’s neck, which earned Alya a noise of complaint from Chat and a confused stare from Ladybug. 

“My apa was a nurse,” Alya explained with a sad smile. She looked back to Chat Noir and after a moment nodded. “His pulse and breathing are pretty strong, I think he’ll be okay.” 

“Your dad’s a nurse?” Ladybug asked, watching Alya as her best friend went back over to the window. 

“…Was. Apa worked at Clinical Saint Paul. When-“ Alya broke off when Chat Noir’s ring beeped again. 

Only the paw pad left. 

Ladybug squeaked and ran up the stairs to her loft to grab her duvet and dragged it back down, bundling Chat up in it and pulling it over his head so that he was well hidden but wouldn’t be smothered. She sat back on her heels and breathed a sigh of relief, smiling when she realized that she could just see Chat’s half-open eyes blinking at her in confusion in the deep shadows of the duvet-cave. Ladybug reached into the shadows and gently ran her fingers through Chat’s hair. “Everything’ll be alright,” she promised him, smiling. She vaguely remembered him asking for some type of cheese at Le Grand Paris when they’d been fighting Mr. Pidgeon, so she could run downstairs and grab some cheese from the fridge or even the bakery if she had to so his Kwami could eat and recharge. 

“Oh no…” Alya whispered. “Madame Mort’s coming back from the Eiffel Tower!” 

Ladybug got to her feet, grabbing her yoyo… and then froze, looking around her room. 

Her small, cluttered, open-floor plan, former attic of a room. 

She couldn’t fight Madame Mort here. She’d be grabbed in half a second. There was no SPACE to do anything in here. She had to lead Madame Mort AWAY but she couldn’t take Chat Noir with her, he was about to de-transform and right now he’d slow her down AND Madame Mort was still focused on finding and killing him. …He was safe here, except- 

Ladybug grabbed Alya’s shoulders. “You have to promise not to look!” she begged her friend, staring desperately into her eyes. 

“Ladybug, what-“ 

“I can’t fight Madame Mort here, I have to lead her away. Chat Noir is going to de-transform and you have to PROMISE not to look! I know you want to know who we are but please… Please, Alya, you can’t. I… I’ll give you an exclusive interview, I’ll do whatever you want, no matter what, I’ll do it, but you have to PROMISE, please!” 

Alya’s eyes went wide, staring at Ladybug in shocked silence. 

Her fingers clenched on Alya’s shoulders. “Please…” 

Alya glanced over at the duvet wrapped Chat Noir, then looked back to Ladybug. She hesitated, but then slowly nodded. “I promise.” 

Ladybug held her breath, eyes shining with hope. 

Alya swallowed. She wanted to know. She really, REALLY wanted to know who they both were but… She held her phone out to Ladybug, who stared at it like she’d never seen a cellphone before in her life before cautiously taking it and holding it in one hand. Backing up, Ladybug’s eyes darted from Alya to Chat Noir, then she spun and ran to the trapdoor, opening it up and scrambling downstairs. 

Alya peeked out through the curtains again. She was just in time to see Ladybug sneak out of Marinette’s house through the bakery, the superhero then ran around a corner and vanished. Alya looked up and saw that Madame Mort was flying towards Marinette’s house… when the Akumatized supervillain suddenly stopped, hovering in place before rushing away. Alya turned to try and see what was going on and caught a glimpse of red swinging away as Ladybug led Madame Mort away from Alya and Chat Noir. 

A beep and flash of green light made her spin around, staring at the duvet pile. The tips of Chat Noir’s armored boots and a fair length of his belt-tail had been poking out of the duvet… now the belt was gone, and place of black and silver armored boots were a pair of normal sneakers. 

Alya slowly walked to the chaise and knelt next to it and reached out with a shaking hand to grab the edge of the ‘hood’ that Ladybug had made with the duvet to hide Chat Noir’s face. She paused, hand just shy of the fabric. Her hand started to drift away… then clenched. Alya’s face went grim and she reached out and firmly grabbed the duvet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was fact checking and found out that in Martinique (where Alya canonically comes from) Martiniquan Creole is one of the most commonly spoken languages, in fact it is equal with French, although it is pretty only spoken in the home/casual settings, with French being used in professional/formal settings. (English is the 'second' most spoken language after French/Creole with Portuguese and Spanish being relatively rare, other languages even more so).
> 
> So since I had decided to have all the characters using the French words for Mom/Dad/Mother/Father instead of just Marinette (as I'd accidentally done)... I figured Alya quite likely speaks Creole at home/with her family and thus she uses the CREOLE words for Dad here (Apa) and later uses the creole word for mom (Manman).


	5. Chapter 5

Alya sat there, hand on the fabric, one moment away from finding out one of the two secrets she wanted to know the answer to more than anything in the world. She wasn’t certain how long she sat frozen. Seconds? Minutes? She clenched her jaw and pulled the fabric further down, making certain that ‘Chat Noir’ was fully hidden. Biting her lip, she also tucked the duvet over his shoes. Getting to her feet, she turned and went resolutely back to the window, peeking out of the curtain, wondering how Ladybug was doing without her partner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Ladybug landed a roof and turned to look over her shoulder, then groaned and backtracked as she realized that Madame Mort wasn’t behind her, AGAIN. She must have seen someone on the street again and gone after them. Why was anyone even out now? It was late at night ( _maybe, she had sort of lost track of time by this point_ ) …The moon was up over the skyline at least. Seeing a flash of purple on the street ahead, Ladybug landed on a balcony and swung her yoyo so that it looped over a tree branch and then lassoed the beak of Madame Mort’s mask. A solid yank and Madame Mort was yanked off her feet and ended up tangled in the tree branches. 

“Run and hide!” Ladybug shouted to the two women, who raced off, holding each other’s hands tight. Oh. Ohhhhhhh, that’s why they’d been walking around in the moonlight. Okay, that was a good reason. Maybe not the best TIME, given the whole Akumatized supervillain thing, but still. Madame Mort managed to struggle her way out of the tree and Ladybug started to spin her yoyo, scowling as Madame Mort slowly rose through the air to be level with Ladybug. “You keep saying that you’re going to save Paris, but so far the only person HURTING anyone tonight is you!” 

The supervillain didn’t bother arguing, she just raced at Ladybug, who flipped over her, landed on Madame Mort’s back ( _smirking as that sent the Plague Doctor smacking face-first into a wall_ ) and landed on the sidewalk. Spinning her yoyo she caught Madame Mort’s ankle. A spin later and the supervillain was smashing through the corner of a building before getting caught in ANOTHER tree. 

Step Three was underway. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Alya glanced back at the duvet shrouded ‘Chat’ for what was probably the hundredth time… at least. In the last ten minutes. She’d been able to catch the occasional glance of Ladybug or Madame Mort in the distance over the past hour, but not very often and to be honest it was kind of… distracting… to know that one of the biggest mysteries she’d ever wanted to solve was –literally- wrapped up like a present a meter or two away from her. 

Although now that she thought about it, it had been an hour. If nothing else, she should at least… check on him, right? Alya nodded. She would just check on him. She would keep her promise to Ladybug and not look, even if that WOULD make checking ‘Chat’s’ pulse and breathing a bit more difficult. 

“So, I’m totally gonna demand weekly interviews from Ladybug,” she offered as she walked over to the duvet, on the off chance that ‘Chat’ was awake. “-and I think I’m gonna have her get you to do them too as payment. That’ll be awesome, won’t it?” 

Kneeling down by the chaise, Alya slid her arm into the duvet until she felt her fingers bump into ‘Chat’s’ face. “Sorry.” Feeling around, she eventually managed to get her fingers on the pulse point on his neck, and twisted her arm so that her wrist was right by his mouth. “Not feeling you up, just checking vit-“ 

Oh no. 

Alya’s adjusted the placement of her fingers, but the result didn’t change. When she’d checked his pulse and breathing before, when Ladybug had brought him in, Alya hadn’t been too worried. Chat Noir had been at least SLIGHTLY responsive, and his pulse and breathing had been surprisingly strong. …Now both were much, MUCH weaker. 

“This is bad. This is so very, very BAD…” 

“You’re telling ME.” 

Alya screamed and fell back onto her butt, then backed away from the chaise, smacking into the wall by the window. “Who’s there?!” That was NOT Chat Noir’s voice, and she’d had her wrist RIGHT NEXT TO his mouth. It hadn’t moved, his breathing hadn’t even changed… yet the sharp, sarcastic voice had, without a doubt, come from the duvet that was hiding Chat Noir. 

In the shadows of the duvet, something moved, and narrow green eyes with tiny slit pupils stared out at Alya from the dark. “I am.” 

“Who… who’re you?! What’re you doing in there!?” …what if the creepy little thing was how Madame Mort’s power worked and it had been draining ‘Chat’ this whole time?! “Did you do something to Chat Noir?!” 

The eyes widened and drew back, apparently caught off guard. “What? No! I’m Plagg!” 

Like that explained anything. 

“If you aren’t hurting him or draining him or whatever, what are you doing in there?” 

The eyes narrowed. “Look. It’s simple. I’m a kwami.” 

“That isn’t simple! It doesn’t explain anything at all! What’s a kwami?!” 

“…A quantic kami. Look, when I’m-“ 

“YOU’RE A **GOD**!?” 

In the shadows, the green eyes closed and Alya heard a very annoyed sigh. “Yes. I already told you, I’m Plagg.” 

It turned out that annoyance was a very good way to get over fear. “That still doesn’t explain anything!” 

“…Look. Normally, I don’t do this, but I’m short on time and shorter on options. I’m Plagg. Kwami of Destruction, Bad Luck and so on and so forth. I power the Black Cat. That means that-“ 

“What do you mean you ‘Power’ the Bl-“ 

“-THAT MEANS,” Plagg said, green eyes now glaring at Alya. “That Chat Noir had a ton more energy when he was transformed, because I was POWERING him. Now that he and I are separate, he’s back to normal human-nothing energy levels. And he got so drained that he was completely out of it WHILE I WAS POWERING HIM. So I need cheese. Right now. Any cheese. I’ll even take milk or yogurt. But I need you to bring it right NOW.” 

Of all the things she thought could have been said- “Why?” Alya demanded. 

“Because if you don’t, he’ll die.”


	6. Chapter 6

It turned out that a bakery actually had a lot more options in the cheese department then Alya had been expecting. She’d grabbed large shopping bag that Marinette had had in her room, thundered down the stairs and just filled it up with cheese from the bakery and the household fridge, and she’d grabbed a gallon jug of heavy whipping cream while she was at it. Cats liked cream, right?

Now she sat on the edge of Marinette’s chaise, her hand stuffed into the duvet pile, wrapped around Chat’s wrist, feeling his weak and thready pulse slowly beating against her fingertips. In front of her, in the middle of the pile of cheese that she’d dumped on the floor, was a green-eyed black God the size of her fist, scarfing down cheese and guzzling cream with a grim determination that just made the whole situation even weirder. 

“So… why cheese?” Alya finally asked when Plagg was almost all the way through the pile. 

“Because they’re offerings,” Plagg said simply, tossing a piece of gouda almost as large as his body up into the air and swallowing it whole before moving on to start gobbling a piece of Roquefort. 

Alya nodded, but after a minute or two, she couldn’t help but ask- “Offerings?” 

“That’s why I can’t just go grab some cheese from wherever I want, whenever I want.” Plagg went to tear into a small wheel of Fuzzy Wheel and paused for a second, poking the poil du chat of the fluffy mold the cheese was famous for ( _or so the plaque card had said_ ). 

Alya was honestly wondering how she was going to explain this to Marinette’s parents. _‘Hi Monsieur Dupain, Madame Cheng! I’m sorry for using the key Marinette accidentally told me about to break into your house, and stealing all the cheese and cream in your house but you see, I had to feed a fuzzy kwami to save a superheroes life!’_ …Maybe it’d be better to sneak out before Marinette or her parents got home and just let them chalk this up to a very, VERY weird robbery. 

“I mean, I’ve got a nice little stash in the room that I can munch on whenever I want… but the thing is that still counts as Offerings, because he went out, got it, brought it to me, and keeps it just for me to eat when I want. This counts because YOU went and got it for me. …Do you know why this cheese is FURRY?” 

“Uh, no. Only that it’s supposed to be?” Alya admitted, trying to store away all this information as well as figure out exactly what Plagg meant. 

Plagg shrugged and started eating the furry cheese. 

Alya waited until Plagg had finished with the small wheel and started eating a thick wedge of cheddar before she asked her next question- “So… Offerings?” -which ended up being the same as her last. 

“Well, I AM a Kwami. …Used to get worshiped and everything.” Plagg finished the cheddar and began scooping some Vacherin Mont d’Or into his mouth by the handfuls… pawfuls. …Alya tried to remember if Plagg had fingers or not and came up blank. “Cheese is the closest thing to what I used to get, like how cookies and baked goods are the closest thing to what Tikki used to get. Eating cheese is nice, but what I really get recharged by is OFFERINGS.” 

“So… it’s an adaption? So you can still get offerings?” Alya asked, trying to picture a God of Destruction and Bad Luck being given offerings of CHEESE instead of… goat’s blood or chickens or PEOPLE or something. ...Wait. “Tikki?” 

Plagg tilted the jug of cream, guzzling it down in huge mouthfuls, unmindful of the cream that splashed past him to splatter on Marinette’s floor. Finishing for the moment, Plagg flew over to the next piece of cheese. “Kwami of Good Luck, Creation, etcetera, etcetera; my equal and opposite ‘better half’ and the most sickeningly kindhearted being in the known universe,” he broke off with a sound of shock as he bit into a piece of Cabricharme and the cheese that filled the rind went shooting out the other end like custard to splatter on one of Marinette’s chairs. 

“…We need to clean up before Marinette gets back.” 

Plagg scoffed and picked up the next piece of Cabricharme, eating this one a bit more carefully. “Why?” 

“You’re making a MESS!” 

“So?” Plagg asked with a snicker. 

“…Let me rephrase. You ARE going to help me clean up before Marinette gets back or I’m going to tell Chat Noir that your favorite thing in the world to eat are GRAPES.” 

Plagg actually paused to stare at Alya at that, something like respect in his eyes. “You wouldn’t.” 

“Wanna bet?” 

Plagg muttered, but then quickly went over to the jug of cream and tilted it so he could start drinking it again… with no spilling this time. 

Alya smirked. Score one for- 

…no. 

Plagg was suddenly rushing at the duvet, the jug falling un-minded to shatter on the floor, the cream puddling out amidst the glass shards as Plagg flew through the duvet with a small puff of black dots and a scream of “NO! DON’T YOU DARE!” 

Alya was already on her feet, letting go of Chat Noir’s wrist and shoving her hands into the duvet to his neck and frantically trying to find a pulse. 

…but she couldn’t find one… and he wasn’t breathing. 

There was a roaring sound in her ears as Alya tried to find a pulse again, and she was vaguely aware that Plagg was shouting… something… she couldn’t make sense of it over the thundering in her ears. 

Alya’s hands clenched and she lunged forward, grabbing Chat Noir, duvet and all, dragging him off the chaise and to a clear space on the floor, laying him down on his back. 

“What are you DOING?” Plagg demanded even as Alya grabbed the duvet and started to yank it aside. 

“I know CPR!” Alya snapped, pushing the small black kwami away even as she pulled away the last layer of the duvet- 

And froze. 

“…Adrien?”


	7. Chapter 7

“Panicking later, SAVING NOW!!” Plagg shouted, flying around and shoving Alya’s shoulders.

Alya jumped, but another shove and she dropped down next to Chat No- Adrien… No, just don’t think. She got him arranged on his back and put a hand on his forehead and leaned his head back, then gently tilted his chin up. She took a shaky breath in… but when she breathed out it was steady. Putting her hands in place, she started the compressions, counting quietly. At thirty she gave Chat Noir two deep rescue breaths, relived when Adrien’s chest moved. 

Plagg dashed and flew around her head, dropping to land on Adrien’s shoulder for a second here, checking for breathing there; flitting back and forth in a panic. Alya lost track of time as she kept working, falling to autopilot, trying to remember to breathe deeply as she did the compressions so she wouldn’t run into trouble and pass out herself. Work. Work work work work WORK- 

His heart started up again, but he still wasn’t BREATHING, so Alya kept up the rescue breathing while Plagg landed by Adrien’s shoulder, tiny black hands pressed to Adrien's neck as he kept watch on the thready pulse for Alya. Heart beating but still not breathing and his pulse was so WEAK, come on, BREATHE you– 

Adrien coughed suddenly, the sound shockingly loud in the room. That seemed to be what Plagg had been waiting for, because the Kwami dove into the silver ring on Adrien’s finger without a word, and there was a flash of green light and black motes that both burned and froze wherever they touched Alya and suddenly Chat Noir was sprawled on the floor of Marinette’s room, tangled in her pink and black duvet. 

Alya pressed her fingers to his neck, ducking to put her cheek next to his mouth as she watched his chest rise and fall, and offered a weak giggle when she realized how strong both pulse and breathing were now. She felt something brush her shoulder but ignored it, mentally timing the pulse to try and figure out if it was actually stronger than when Ladybug had brought Chat Noir in or if it was just her imagination. 

Instead of a brush, this time there was a weak but definite shove at her shoulder. Alya leaned back and turned her head to see what it was, and blinked when she realized that it was Chat Noir’s hand. Alya’s eyes widened and she sat up straight, the black gloved hand sliding off her shoulder with the fast movement. She looked down and couldn’t help whooping, pumping both fists into the air in victory, when she met open ( _if still VERY dazed_ ) green eyes. 

Alya dragged the unresisting superhero off the floor and into a hug. “Don’t scare me like that, you idiot. What if I hadn’t been here?! I know you’re still new to the whole ‘friends’ thing, but friends DON’T DIE on friends! Got it?” 

Chat Noir just offered a dazed mumble, relaxing against Alya. Alya twisted her head to try and look at him. “…You’re just enjoying the fact you’re getting hugged aren’t you. Did you hear a word I said?” 

Chat’s eyes were mostly closed, face smushed awkwardly against Alya’s shoulder, arms limp and pinned to his sides by Alya’s hug. “…Adrien,” Alya said, more to test his awareness than anything else, and she huffed when saying his real name didn’t even get a blink out of him. “Fine, I’ll yell at you later, when you’re actually awake.” 

“ **CHAT NOIR!** ” 

Alya jumped, then quickly laid the limp Chat Noir back down on the floor and ran to the window, jumping over the majority of the glass shards, scattering cheese everywhere and leaving footprints of cream as she went. At the window, she carefully pulled the curtain back just enough to peek out. 

Madame Mort was back. 

Racing back to Chat Noir, Alya tried to shake him ACTUALLY awake, but when that didn’t work she grabbed his shoulders, dragging him to the trapdoor. “Come on, we have to go.” 

The two of them ended up falling down the stairs that lead to the third floor in a jumble thanks to the fact that Marinette’s duvet stayed tangled with Chat’s legs. After taking a minute to detangle herself and Chat Noir and then kicking the duvet to the side, Alya headed for the next stairwell. 

Reaching the ground floor, Alya sat Chat Noir so that he was leaning against the wall, waited to make certain he’d stay put, then snuck into the bakery on her hands and knees and peeked through the windows until she spotted Madame Mort. Who was over the park, heading slowly towards the buildings on the far side. 

Sneaking back, she slung Chat’s arm over her shoulders, getting him to his feet, ignoring the way his face twisted up as he hissed in pain. She tried to remember if she’d heard his ribs crack when giving Adrien CPR or not, but came up blank. But even if his ribs were not cracked, they had to be at least badly bruised, which probably wasn’t the best thing to wake up to. 

“…Alya?” 

“Yeah?” Alya asked as she half lead and half carried Chat Noir to the private side door, unlocking it and carefully easing it open. 

“…What’s going on…?” 

Alya closed the door as quietly as she could behind them and struck off down the street, away from where she’d last seen Madame Mort. “Well, I came to check on Marinette on my way to film you and Ladybug saving the day to make sure she was okay, but she wasn’t home, so-“ Alya paused, mentally went over everything that had happened so far tonight, and shook her head. “No, that’ll take too long. Going with the Short Short version.” 

She pulled Chat’s arm a bit higher up, grabbing his belt with her free hand as she looked over her shoulder to make sure they hadn’t been seen. Finding a side-street she turned down it, hoping to keep them out of sight as well as get farther away from the Akumatized villain. “You DIED for a bit, and Madame Mort must’ve given Ladybug the slip because she’s back and trying to find you, so we’re…” Alya pulled up short as they got to one of the larger streets and peeked around as best she could. It… LOOKED… clear. “Well, right now we’re staying out of sight, I hope, until we figure out what to do next.” 

Chat tried to stand on his own, eyes mere slits and glassy. “Hide. …she’s after me.” 

“Yeah, like I’d let you do that,” Alya scoffed. “The only question about the end result is who would kill me first; Marinette and Nino, or Ladybug and Plagg?” 

“Would… what?” 

“Nothing. I’ll tell you later when I’m yelling at you. Running and hiding time now,” Alya said. Alright, it looked clear enough. There was a crash of glass somewhere behind them, then the sound of something big and heavy hitting a wall. She could see a small side street a bit further down the road, so giving Chat a sharp tug, she set off again. She didn’t comment about how heavily he was leaning against her, his head sagging forward, eyes closed, legs buckling beneath him. She just held him up as best she could and kept them moving. It was still better than those horrifying minutes when he’d just… stopped… when she hadn’t been certain she would be able to save him. 

A shadow passed over them and Alya looked up, ducking as Madame Mort flew overhead. For a second, it looked like they’d gotten lucky, that the tree they’d been walking under had hidden them… but then the plague doctor landed at the end of the street ahead of them. Alya backed up fast, but she tripped on the edge of the sidewalk and both she and Chat went over, ending in a heap on a sewer grate. 

Madame Mort chuckled and started walking towards them slowly, enjoying this, TAUNTING them. They got to their feet, but then Chat went down heavily to his knees, dragging Alya with him. His arm slid off her shoulders and she had to grab him with both arms to keep him from collapsing. “Alya… Run. Run, NOW…” 

“No! Come on, get back on your feet!” 

“Run.” 

“NOT WITHOUT YOU!” 

Another chuckle and Alya’s gaze snapped back to Madame Mort. 

She was so close now, less than a meter away. 

Two black clad arms suddenly wrapped around her waist. “Hold tight…” Alya had a split second to register that Chat had his baton out in his hands before he shoved one end through a hole in the sewer grate and his thumb pressed against the cat’s paw print. 

The baton extended FAST. 

Alya had always known that Chat Noir’s baton could extend and contract quickly… intellectually. She’d seen him making as much use of it as Ladybug did her yoyo when she filmed their fights after all… but there was a difference between ‘ _I’ve seen and recorded the fact that the baton can extend between the length of one third of a meter to kilometers in a second_ ’… 

…and being present as it did so. 

Alya was screaming, both legs and arms wrapped around Chat Noir and the baton as they rocketed into the air at a steep angle so fast that she couldn’t open her eyes against the wind. They smacked into the edge of a roof, Chat Noir grunting as he took the impact, then Alya’s hip bounced off a chimney and they cleared the roofs. She FELT them start to tilt more, to fall … but then the tilt stopped and the baton bounced, shaking one of Chat’s legs off from where he’d wrapped them around the baton and they STILL KEPT GOING and Alya kept screaming. 

After a short eternity, Alya finally ran out of breath and hesitantly opened her eyes. The mad climb had slowed to a crawl now, and Paris was spread out below them. They were high… high enough that the air was thin and her breath was mist and she could see the rooftops of Paris below… 

Very, very, VERY far below. 

And they were STILL climbing. Slowly, and at an angle, but still. 

“…How far can your baton extend?!” Alya demanded. 

There was no answer. 

Alya tore her gaze off the city below to look at Chat Noir… and felt her stomach drop. “Oh no…” 

Chat’s eyes’ were fluttering closed and now that she was paying attention, she realized that his arms weren’t holding onto her waist anymore... it was only the koala hug of death she had on him and the baton that was keeping the two of them together and ON the baton. “Chat Noir!” his head dropped and his left hand slid off the baton. Alya shrieked and reached out, wrapping one hand around his right hand, trying to keep it on the baton, eyes darting to the leg Chat still had wrapped around the pole. “...Chat!” The hand under hers tensed for one second… and then he went limp, passing out with a soft groan. “ADRIEN!!” 

The baton shrunk, and Alya could only stare in horror as for a split second they hung in the thin, cold air… 

And then they fell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just because I didn't have a way to work this into the story proper:  
> There's a reason the pole didn't tilt and fall despite how long it was. Chat actually insured that the baton wouldn't tilt/fall at the start, when he stuck one end into the sewer grate. The baton extended down into the sewer as well and when ' ** _She FELT them start to tilt more, to fall … but then the tilt stopped and the baton bounced_** '? That was the length that was in the sewer catching on the sewer wall and the narrow opening of the sewer grate and basically acting like an anchor weight/base for the baton. 
> 
> Mostly I have it because 'physics' AND because the show has actually made use of the fact that when Chat's baton is extended it can act like a lever and send him flying/falling and I needed them NOT to fall to their deaths ( _at least not as early on as they would have if Chat had not 'planted' the baton as he did ^_^_ )


	8. Chapter 8

Ladybug was in a panic by the time she heard the scream. She had turned around, just for a second, just to be certain she landed on the roof and didn’t miss it to land in a tree ( _again… she didn’t want to talk about it_ ). When she’d looked back, Madame Mort hadn’t been behind her anymore.

Backtracking hadn’t done any good. Ladybug hadn’t been following a path, per se, she’d just been trying to keep Madame Mort busy and lead her away-ish from Chat Noir and Alya. Once she’d gone a few blocks, Ladybug couldn’t remember the exact path she’d taken and headed to the tallest building she could and perched at the top, looking around frantically for a purple and black clad flying Plague Doctor. 

Nothing. Where could she have gone?! 

…Home. 

Ladybug took off over the rooftops, heart in her throat. Madame Mort probably knew where Ladybug had left Chat Noir, or at least she knew roughly where. So long as Ladybug had kept her busy, the supervillain hadn’t thought to just go back and search the houses where she’d been tricked into heading for the Eiffel Tower but now… 

Ladybug saw her house up ahead… one of the windows of her room gaping- open and broken. Setting her jaw, Ladybug swung into her room through the broken window, landing in a fighting stance, yoyo already spinning as she faced down- 

An empty room. 

Ladybug straightened up and looked around, as if Madame Mort, Chat Noir or Alya could be hiding in a corner. But no, the room was empty. There was cheese and glass scattered all over her room, some of it crushed underfoot, and a huge puddle of cream near a fallen gallon jug. Her duvet was nowhere to be seen, and her chaise had been thrown across the room into her computer desk, breaking the monitor if nothing else, her bed flipped over on the loft… 

What had happened here? 

That was when she heard the scream. ALYA screaming, her voice getting fainter fast, dwindling away to nothing almost before Ladybug registered what she was hearing. 

Eyes wide, Ladybug jumped up through her skylight and onto her balcony and ran over the rooftops towards the sound of the scream… Movement caught her eye and Ladybug could only stare as she saw Chat Noir using his baton to climb into the air, Alya holding on tight as the duo climbed, almost a blur. Giving chase, slower- much, MUCH slower- than the extending baton, was Madame Mort. 

“Oh no you don’t!” Ladybug sighted, threw, and lassoed Madame Mort. Yanking down savagely, she ripped the Plague Doctor out of the sky and sent her smashing into a fabric shop. Landing on the street, she ran in and just started throwing the bolts of cloth, catching them with her yoyo, throwing again until Madame Mort was caught in a massive gorgons knot. Bracing her shoulder against one shelving unit, then grabbing the other with her yoyo, she added them to the pile. 

That would hold for a minute. 

Spinning, she ran back out onto the street. She was just in time to see Chat’s baton shrink, vanishing up into the sky. Leaping to the rooftops, Ladybug tried to figure out where Chat and Alya were. 

It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Alya was too scared to scream this time. She couldn’t even bear to watch as the ground rushed up to meet them, her arms still wrapped around Chat Noir’s shoulders, face buried against him, eyes closed and tears escaping as she waited for the sudden stop and pain and then- 

Something smacked into them, sending them spinning off at a new angle, and THAT startled a scream out of Alya’s throat. An arm wrapped around her waist and grabbed Chat Noir’s belt, pulling them both tight against a slim body. 

“HOLD TIGHT!” 

Alya’s eyes snapped open. 

Ladybug was holding on to them with one arm, her yoyo held in her free hand. 

Alya tightened one arm around Chat’s shoulders and threw her other around Ladybug and held on to both for all she was worth. Ladybug spun her yoyo above her head and their speed decreased sharply for a moment. Ladybug let them fall a few more yards, then spun her yoyo again, and again, and again, and again until finally she had gotten their speed down to a crawl… 

“You can swim, right?!” 

“…yes?” 

“Good!” 

Alya was about to demand why when Ladybug spun her yoyo again, killing almost all of their downward speed for one moment. Alya dared to look down… 

And saw that they were about two meters above the waters of the Seine. 

Ladybug stopped spinning her yoyo, catching it one handed as the trio dropped into the cold dark water. 

A moment passed. 

Ladybug sputtered up to the surface, holding up both Alya and Chat Noir as she shook water out of her eyes. Alya pushed her hair away from her face with one hand, trying to see through her water splashed glasses. “Hold on to Chat instead of me, Alya, I need a free hand. I’m going to get us out of the water.” Once Alya was holding onto Chat Noir, Ladybug swung her now free arm and caught a support strut on the underside of the Pont des Arts with her yoyo. A moment later and all three were on the walkway under the north side of the bridge. 

Alya was by the bonelessly limp Chat Noir the second they were out of the water, shoving the baton she’d been holding in a white knuckled grip off to the side to free both hands, checking him frantically. “No, no, NO, don’t you dare, don’t you DARE make me use CPR on you twice in one night!” She flopped onto her back, breath whooshing out of her in relief when she found him still breathing, his heart still beating. She stared up at the sky, trying to figure out where they’d fallen from, mentally adding more items to the ‘going to yell at Adrien until I’m hoarse’ list. 

“Use… CHAT?!” Ladybug’s frantic yelp jarred Alya into sitting up, and she watched as the superhero she admired so much all but fell over herself checking the silent black form, in this moment not strong and perfect and unruffled… but just as scared and worried and off-balance as Alya was. 

“Uh. He’s okay now… mostly.” 

Ladybug paused, one hand on Chat Noir’s chest as she looked at Alya. She took a deep breath and hesitantly sat down. “What were you DOING? What possible reason was there to go THAT high?!” 

“Um. I think he was just… trying to get us away from Madame Mort because she was a meter or two away… but he started to black out and just… lost track of where we were and stuff…” 

“Alya wouldn’t run, Bugaboo,” Chat’s voice offered, sounding completely done in. 

Both of the girls looked down and met exhausted, but clear, green eyes. Ladybug dragged Chat up into a hug that drove all the air out of him in a _whuuulf_. He looked a bit startled, and his face twisted in pain thanks to his ribs, but then he raised his hands and returned the hug. He tilted his head just enough to catch Alya’s eyes. “ Sorry to have worried you,” he offered to both of them in the same utterly drained tone. 

After a moment, Ladybug got to her feet, offering Alya a hand up. When Chat Noir tried and failed to get to his feet, Ladybug pulled him up and slid under his arm. “Come on, Kitty. Alya, you stay here and HIDE. Chat, we’re going to go to The Louvre.” 

Chat Noir’s lips quirked. “I sense a plan.” 

Alya bit her lip. “I could come and help…” 

Both superheroes shook their head. “No, not this time,” Chat Noir said. 

“Chat’s right, Alya. I’ve got a plan, but…” 

“Super powers required?” Alya asked. She smiled at Ladybug’s wince. “No, honestly it’s okay. …Um. Where did you put my cellphone?” 

“…On the bookshelf by the side-door of m-Marinette’s house. Ground floor.” She shrugged when Alya gaped at her. “I don’t have pockets.” 

“I do.” 

“Yes, yes, as you so often lord over me, Kitty.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've seen Ladybug make extensive use of the 'helicopter spin' of her yoyo to kill her downward speed in series, although it does seem to cause her to fall at an angle. So in this case Ladybug spent the first few spins getting the trio to below terminal velocity... then she was just maintaining speed and angling them for the river ( _because she wasn't certain how well it would go landing on the ground, where as a short fall into the water was safer/gave her a ready-made cushion_ ). 
> 
> ( _We've also seen Chat make use of the 'helicopter spin' to an extent, though not as often as Ladybug and he doesn't seem to kill as much speed as she does... it is possible that he can't get his staff up to the same speeds that Ladybug can get her yoyo_ )
> 
> Side note: I have Chat use the English 'Bugaboo' instead of the French 'Buginette' simply because Buginette is visually (and audibly) too similar to 'Marinette'... I know that -nette is basically a 'cute' suffix that is added onto words in France, however it just seemed to 'on the mark' for Chat to be using it, hence the use of the English 'cute nickname' equivalent


	9. Chapter 9

The two waited until Alya had hidden herself away, then Ladybug reached down and picked up Chat Noir’s baton, handing it to him with a little tilt of her head. Chat nodded and set his baton on the ground. With Ladybug holding on, he rose them up into the air, both legs wrapped around the pole again rather than bracing his feet against it like usual, clenching his jaw and focusing everything he had into staying AWAKE. His ribs were SCREAMING and between that and how exhausted he was his vision was quickly clouding up with white and black spots, couldn’t tell how high they were… could barely remember to try and keep them balanced and rising as his vision tunneled amidst the dancing spots-

“Stop.” 

The baton froze and Chat Noir blinked his vision as clear as he could, waiting until he saw the Louvre. “Here we go,” he said, shifting his weight forward in a practiced move, sending the two of them falling in a gentle arc towards the museum, shrinking and storing his baton behind him as they went. 

They landed well enough, and Ladybug didn’t say anything when her partner just found a wall to sit down next to, letting his head drop onto his raised knees, arms loosely wrapped around his chest. Instead she walked over to stand next to him. “I saw Madame Mort in the distance when we were up top, before we started on our way over here,” she offered, glancing down at the top of Chat Noir’s head. 

He nodded. “She’ll be here soon then. What’s the plan?” 

“I’m going to try to lasso her to something when she gets here. Do you think you can pin her in place with your baton long enough for me to use Lucky Charm? From a safe distance?” 

Chat lifted his head and looked around before nodding again, pointing at the Pyramid. “Lasso her to one of the beams. I can wedge the baton behind another beam and just…” he pressed his palms together. “-like a hair clip?” 

Ladybug nodded. “Sounds good.” She watched as Chat Noir let his head drop to rest on his knees, then quietly spoke up. “Alya… said she had to give you CPR?” 

Chat’s shoulders hunched and he wrapped his arms around his chest again. 

“…Chat.” 

“I don’t remember, Ladybug. I- I kinda remember being in… leaves and I think you were there? …and then I was wrapped up in something, don’t know what, but it was warm and dark. …then it’s all just black until Alya and I were walking down a street and my chest was killing me…” he snorted a laugh. “No, not Alya and I. ALYA was walking and I was the dead weight she was pretty much carrying. Madame Mort was there, and… Alya wouldn’t run. …So I used my baton to get us out of there, but I think I blacked out because the next thing I can remember is being dragged out of the Seine, then I’ve got nothing again until you and Alya talking and I’ve got no clue what happened in the blank spots or how LONG any of those spots were.” 

Ladybug put a hand on Chat’s head, and ran her fingers through his hair for a second. “Okay. I’ll find out what happened if you want me to, and I’ll try not to ask if you DON’T want me to. I just… I was worried about you, Kitty.” 

“You don’t have to worry about me, my Lady.” 

Yes, she did. 

A final pat and she gently tugged his arm. “Come on, bait. Let’s get you in place.” 

That got a bit of a laugh from Chat and a moment later he was standing in front of the Pyramid, baton extended to his preferred fighting staff length. Chat was holding onto it and using it as a brace to stay on his feet in what Ladybug HOPED was a charade to make the bait all the more tempting for Madame Mort. Ladybug herself was tucked into the shadows to Chat’s left in one of the doorways of the Louvre, yoyo at the ready. 

Just as Ladybug was beginning to fear that they were going to have to go out and hunt down Madame Mort, the plague doctor came and landed in the street in front of the Louvre, the weird ‘bird’ mask accenting the movement of her head as she stared at Chat Noir, then slowly considered all of the Louvre. Chat sagged as he waited, head dipping and knees bending before his hands clenched on his baton and he pulled himself back up straight, glaring at Madame Mort. 

Madame Mort took off, flying faster than Ladybug had seen her move before… and just before she got to Chat Noir, Madame Mort cut to the left and flew straight at Ladybug, catching her off-guard. 

Ladybug had to throw the yoyo to hit Madame Mort in the head rather than lasso her, and she dove to the side as the supervillain tumbled past and in a quick jump was at the roof of the Louvre. Madame Mort got to her feet, then started to race towards Ladybug- 

-and fell out of the air when Chat Noir’s thrown baton smacked into her head. The Akumatized supervillain got to her feet yet again and turned. 

“Come on then, Doctor. Here’s Bad Luck. …Bet you can’t kill it.” 

Madame Mort didn’t move, looking back and forth between Chat Noir and Ladybug, debating who to go after first. 

“Lucky Charm!!” This would work, this had to work, this really, REALLY had to work right n- “…a dinner plate? A DINNER PLATE?! What good does a dinner plate do me!?” 

“Nothing at all,” Madame Mort said, casually turning her back on Ladybug and looked toward Chat Noir… and flew at him in a rush. 

Ladybug looked around frantically, seeing a burst of spots on the dinner plate, then Madame Mort’s glove and then… Chat Noir. “Got it.” Winding up, she threw the dinner plate as hard as she could. “YOUR TURN!” 

The plate raced across the distance… and just as Madame Mort reached out to press her hand to Chat Noir’s chest… the plate slid in-between gloved hand and armored chest. 

The impact slammed Chat Noir against the Pyramid and for an instant the world froze. 

Then Chat Noir smirked and winked at Madame Mort even as she stared at the plate between her hand and his chest in shock. 

“Cataclysm.” Trailing black motes, Chat Noir slapped his right hand over Madame Mort’s gloved left hand. “You forgot. …I’m also Destruction.” 

Chat Noir collapsed, green eyes dull and half-closed, even as Madame Mort backed away from him. Ladybug leapt from the roof of the Louvre, landing in a roll and running towards her partner as fast as she could as he fell heavily to the ground, the dinner plate clattering to rest beside him. 

“Nooooooooooo!” Madame Mort screamed as the glove-of-death turned a brownish grey… and shredded away. 

A purple and black butterfly, left upperwing purple tinted black and right upperwing a pale silvery white, fluttered free of the glove and started to fly back to its master. 

“No, you don’t,” Ladybug said, sliding her finger over the top of her yoyo so the shield unfolded away. Swinging her yoyo around, she swiped the Akuma out of the air, capturing and purifying it in one practiced motion. Tapping the center dot, she watched as the butterfly, now glowing a gentle white, fluttered away. 

The issue of insuring that they would not be dealing with an ARMY of Madame Morts dealt with, Ladybug dove for the plate by the downed Chat Noir and tossed it as high into the air as she could. “MIRACULOUS RESTORATION!” 

The plate burst in into Wheel of Life… then broke into swirling flights of ladybugs, rushing out over the city to undo the harm that was done… and one column swept down to wrap around a certain black cat before the magic faded. 

Chat Noir’s eyes snapped wide, then closed as he gasped and coughed, legs and arms jack-knifing in as he flopped onto his side and curled up in one sharp motion. After a few deep gasps, he groaned and opened his eyes, then slowly pushed himself to his feet. “Okay, that was not fun at-” 

“CHAT!” 

Ladybug hit her partner like a runaway train, sending both falling back to the ground in a confused pile of limbs as she hugged him as tightly as she could. Chat Noir just laughed, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back in relief. 

Behind them, Madame Mort reverted to her true self in a burst of black motes and purple light. She sat up, looking around in confusion. “What? …Where am I?” 

Chat Noir sighed reluctantly as Ladybug let go, both of them getting to their feet. Chat held up a fist. Ladybug smiled and bumped her fist into his. 

“Bien joué!” the two chirped. 

Chat’s gaze traveled over to the Doctor sitting on the ground and he tilted his head, then walked over to sit on his heels in front of her, a gentle smile on his face. “Hi, Doctor Martin. I’m Chat Noir. I heard you’ve been having a bad time at the hospital...” Ladybug trailed behind, smiling. 

She’d deal with Step Six of her plan the next time the two of them were on patrol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  As mentioned in the opening notes of each fic, and in more detail in [Chapter 1 of my series bible](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8189071/chapters/25892577), in my fanfic 'verse an Akuma takes on a unique appearance after a Champion accepts Papillon's deal, thus each akuma that flees from a broken Talisman looks different for each Champion, and is reverted to the normal white butterfly after Ladybug 'purifies' them.  
> ~~~~~~
> 
> I'm... actually really horrible at writing combat/fight scenes so this chapter is not as long or as well written as I'd like.  
> I do plan to have more combat in the later fics I have vaguely planned to follow this one, and hopefully they'll be better crafted and longer^_^


	10. Chapter 10

Alya was nervous. Alya was SUPER nervous.

Alya was so nervous that she was beginning to approach calm from the other side. 

“…Dude, are you okay?” Nino asked, reaching over to carefully put a hand on Alya’s shoulder. “Did something happen to you when you left to try and film Ladybug?” When Alya glanced at him, then away, Nino swallowed and looked to Marinette, who could only shrug. He took his hand off Alya’s shoulder. “Did… Did I do something wrong when we were studying at my place last night?” 

He didn’t THINK he’d done anything… They’d spent the whole time in the living room with his parents popping in with snacks and drinks and advice on how to do the harder math problems and his parents had actually… been kinda cool and not controlling every little thing and all that stuff he hated… and he’d thought it’d been okay, even if he’d been too nervous to do much more than hold Alya’s hand a few times. 

Alya looked at him, confused, then her eyes went wide and she threw her arms around Nino. “No! No, Nino, it was great at your place and you are the most absolute best. I’m sorry, I just… Last night I ended up getting a bit more caught up in the Akuma stuff then I usually do and-“ 

Adrien’s limo pulled up. Nino winced when he saw how completely done-in his best friend looked. Probably from the rescheduled from-sunset to-sunrise photoshoot he’d just come from. Honestly, Nino was debating going to try and have a TALK with, or at least AT, Adrien’s father again, because seriously? Did the guy not get that Adrien was getting worn down to nothing and STILL had, y’know, SCHOOL after the shoot? Adrien’s text to him this morning had been misspelled and jumbled to the point where Nino had brought in some of his most holy of holy ( _and possibly more than a little illegal in France_ ) energy drinks so his Bro would hopefully make it through the day. He started down the steps to go offer Adrien one of the cans ( _and maybe balance the guy because WOW did he look ready to collapse_ ) when suddenly Alya rushed past Nino to hit Adrien like a wrecking ball, tackling the blond to the ground in a hug with a relieved shout of ‘ADRIEN!’ 

Pinned underneath her, Adrien could only offer a confused, “What just happened?” 

“Alya?! What are you doing?” Marinette demanded as she and Nino ran over. 

“Uh, sorry.” Alya got to her feet and brushed herself off while Nino gave Adrien a hand up. “I was just worried about Adrien. Last night-” 

Adrien’s gaze snapped up to her, face paling to paper white. 

‘ _…Think fast, Alya…_ ’ 

“Chat Noir and I ran into Adrien, and then Madame Mort…” she shrugged. “Chat Noir stopped Madame Mort, before she… um.” Alya frowned and rubbed the back of her neck. How much was too much? How far from the truth could she get before it fell through? “-but I just was really really glad to see that you’re okay. …sorry for the tackle hug, Adrien.” 

“…Please don’t tell my Père…” Adrien said, voice soft and scared, and it took Alya a moment to realize that he was still white as a sheet, but now he wasn’t staring at or talking to HER, but instead his gaze was behind her… at the limo that was only now driving away. 

“Adrien?” Nino asked. 

“…Natalie was riding with me today because Madame Mort got her last night, and I think my Père was… I didn’t tell them that I ran into Madame Mort too. …I hope she won’t tell him this ti- My Père-“ 

Nino was scowling and he aimed a LOOK at Alya. Alya winced, but ducked her head, accepting the chastment. Adrien’s father was frighteningly protective- or maybe possessive was a better term- of Adrien. …And she might have just given him ammunition to curtail his son more than he already did. Marinette was looking back and forth between the three of them, wringing her hands, uncertain what to do. Alya couldn’t help the small smile that she got at that. Anyone but Adrien and Marinette would already be joining Nino in some top-notch comforting… but Marinette just… short circuited around Adrien. 

Alya threw an arm over Adrien’s shoulders and pulled him against her side in a brief hug. “It’ll be alright. I’m sorry anyway. I know Chat kept you from getting hurt, but I kept seeing people Madame Mort had drained and you were the only person I KNOW that I saw out there, so… Don’t spread this around, but I have nightmares sometimes and I had one last night and… in the nightmare you were the one that got hurt and I… I couldn’t save you and Chat Noir couldn’t save you and I just… am really glad you’re okay?” 

Adrien blinked and seemed to come back to himself, color slowly returning to his face. “You are?” he asked. 

Nino and Alya shared a glance behind Adrien’s head. Things that were normal everyday parts of being friends tended to catch Adrien flat-footed at the oddest times. He would give and give and give, smile and be kind to anyone and everyone, but he always seemed caught off guard when he was on the receiving end. ..Then again, given that the only person he’d been really allowed to befriend and interact with until he was 15 had been Chloé… 

“Course she is, dude!” Nino said, shaking Adrien’s shoulder. “She’s your friend! Friends care about each other!” He punched Adrien’s shoulder lightly and smiled at him. “I know you’re new to the whole friends thing, but trust me ‘kay?” 

Adrien nodded, seemingly quickly settling. He spared one last glance after the limo, worrying his lip, but then shifted, straightened his shoulders blew out a deep breath, and smiled- Normal Adrien. 

Alya gave him another squeeze and stepped away- 

…and could only watch as CHLOÉ hit Adrien in a tackle-hug with a cry of ‘Adrihoney! I heard what Alya said and was so worried!’ sending Adrien to the ground yet again with a groaned complaint of ‘why does this keep happening?’. 

Alya snickered, and patted Marinette’s shoulder when her friend growled at Chloé’s dramatics. She still needed to find time, and a way, to talk to Adrien about… things (and yell at him, that was still on the roster) but at least it looked like everything was back to normal.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] "Madame Mort" by JED1](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14012505) by [Yvi_sama](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yvi_sama/pseuds/Yvi_sama)




End file.
